Saturday, October 18, 2008

Circus Maximus

During the long, slow decline of the Roman Empire, the ruling class would stage "spectacles" in Rome's Circus Maximus - a constant parade of horribles including, but not limited to, gladiator fights, executions, bestiality and public rapes. All for the entertainment of the great unwashed masses, whom the ruling elites hoped to distract with blood sports against their "enemies", the reformers, early Christians, and intellectuals who struggled to save the Empire from itself.